Here’s Coca Cola, Chewing gum, Here’s Freedom, Democracy

Klaus Liebig/ PN Venugopal

Klaus Liebig

Klaus Liebig- German Leftist thinker, Pedagogue, Green movement activist and member of ATTAC Germany, worked for the Education Department of the Trade Union Federation of Baveria in Southern Germany as pedagogical Director. He was born seven days after the commencement of Second World War. After the miseries of the war he reached America, where he was issued a judgment to undergo three years imprisonment for refusal to participate in the Vietnam War.

Liebig has been visiting Kerala every year since 1998.He has made a documentary about Kerala-‘Clouds Over Kerala.’ The theme of the documentary is Kerala Model of Development and how globalization is foiling its results.

The theme of your documentary is Kerala before and after globalization. What prompted you to make such a documentary?

I first came to Kerala in 1998 when I visited India for the treatment of my heart disease. But I knew about Kerala long before that. You may feel that it’s something foreigners often refer to, when they talk about Kerala. Still I have to mention it. Kerala was the first to have a communist government through ballots. And as I came to know more about Kerala and its development, I became an admirer of EMS. During the last eight years, I have spent four and half years in Kerala. I have have learnt about Sreenarayana Guru to that of Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishath.I have been to many villages, have visited coir factories and various co-operative organizations such as Dinesh Beedi. At first I saw that there had been a very positive development. But later I witnessed that globalization was slowly gnawing away the achievments of Kerala Model. That’s how the idea of that documentary came about. I made it for the people of my own country. Even though those who have an enquiring mind know about the movements and changes that occurred in Latin America as consequence of neo liberal politics and economy, they are not properly aware about Kerala. I made “Clouds Over Kerala” with them in mind.

Have you ever felt that the much talked about Kerala model development was a farce?

No, never. But I can agree if it’s said that many good aspects of the so called Kerala Model are being destroyed by Neoliberalism. Its not a small matter, that a state with a percapita income of below 400 dollars is not far behind in human development indicators to let’s say America, which has a percapita income of 22 000 dollars.

you mentioned that you are an admirer of EMS. What was it that attracted you to him?

I was attracted to him because he tried to harmonise Marxist ideology with Kerala’s existing reality. What bewildered me most about communism in many countries was the wide chasm between the ideology and its application. I believe that communism is still quite alive in Kerala mainly due to EMS. While I say this, I am not forgetting other leaders. Communism couldn’t develop strong roots even in West Germany, the birthplace of Karl Marx. But here it could.

You were born in Germany. That too seven days after the commencement of the Second World War. Are the memories of the war still fresh within you?

My earliest memories are of course connected with war. Frequent bombing, underground shelters, ruined buildings, often news of men of village families having been killed on the different war fronts, handicapped people……….I was born in a village near the Ruhr District in Western Germany. This district around the small river Ruhr, a tributary to the river Rhine, was Germany’s industrial centre at that time. Especially iron, steel, coal and chemical industries. These industries were the target of allied air forces from the beginning itself, as it was the production centre of basic materials essential for the manufacture of arms. In between these industrial plants and our village flows this big river Rhine. Many-a-times, the area would be covered with fog. The pilots of American and British airoplanes carrying bombs wouldn’t be able to identify the exact location. They would offload the entire, making a rough calculation. A lot would fall on our village. According to my father’s calculation, our village was subjected to bombing 48 times.

Did schools and other educational institutions function during that time?

Germans are an efficient lot. It’s another matter that they showed maximum efficiency in running concentration camps. The governing system functioned without much disorder during the 6 years of war. Schools too. But the school in our village was destroyed in bombing. My father was a teacher in that school. Even after the school was destroyed he would go around the village and teach children collecting them in one homestead. But the situation in universities was different. From the third year after the commencement of the war, students were sent to the war front. During the last years of war most universities were shut down due to the absence of students. Even 15, 16 year old children were made ‘heros’ by sending them to the battlefield.

Did the war have the support of the people?

Of course, yes. Even if not of the whole population, it had more or less support of the majority, at least it was very difficult and by all means dangerous to be in open opposition. If there is a belief, that whatever happened then were done by Hitler and three or four other terrorists, it’s not true. The governing system that I mentioned earlier functioned because of the support of the people. The British thought out a strategy to eliminate this support. They destroyed Dresden city by bombing. Some compare this to Hiroshima. 3 lakh people were killed. British-American calculation was that if they kept on killing laymen, the masses would turn against Hitler. But it had the opposite effect. Their obstinacy just increased. In the end, though they knew that everything was over, many people stood with this madness. Some of the elder students in the high school in which I later studied, were killed. They were deployed to protect a truck - manufacturing unit. They became preys to allied tanks. It was sheer madness.

Many died due to famine. Isn’t it?

After 1945 a number of people died due to famine, particularly in the big cities. Especially the industrial areas had lost all order after the war and lay in ruins. That’s why it happened so. But as ours was a village, the situation was not that acute. My father and my mother would go to the farmers’ houses. Some bread from one house, some fruits from another one. But, yes, I too have experienced hunger due to poverty in these years.

Were the allied forces present in your area?

Yes. As you know Germany was divided into four zones. Apart from the American, British and French, the Western zones, there was the Russian zone in the East. That later became the frontier of East Germany, and the German Wall was raised along this border. In the beginning there was no German police. But gradually Germans themselves began to look after everything.The West German army was formed again some years later, in 1956. Of course there was resistance from the Left, which however was not powerful enough to prevent this move.

Was the Left strong in Germany after the war?

You might think that it was only natural that the Left would become strong in a country, which undergoes such miseries. But it didn’t happen in the West. One of the reasons which never got enough attention: concentration camps annihilated not Jews, Jehova’s Witnesses, and gays alone. Lakhs of critics of the system and the war, communists and social democrats also died in these camps, some came out hanicapped for life, many as broken men. Others became exiles like Bert Brecht, Lion Feuchtwanger, Thomas Mann and many many others. And then there was very strong anti communist propaganda, mainly from the U.S. A strong Left movement coudn’t emerge in postwar West - Germany due to these and some other reasons. There is a view, which suggests that a strong relationship exists between capitalism and fascism. On the gounds of the former concentration camp Mauthausen in Austria is now a museum. A sentence of the well-known leftist thinker Dimitroff is engraved near the entrance. “Do not ever forget that fascism is a special flower of capitalism.” We can see that this is a fact when we analise the history of the Nazi party. They had the complete support of major German industries. Major armament manufacturers had close contact with the party. They supplied arms not only to Germany, but also to Britain. It was their imperative that fascism should grow. It could happen, that Germany and Britain fought against each other with the weapons manufactured in the same company. As you know, the same thing is happening today also. Most of today’s wars are fought with weapons made by the same company!

Wasn’t there a massive anti-communist, pro-capitalist propaganda after the war?

Yes, in a very strong way. “Look, if we were not here, the Soviet Union would come and swallow you”. This was the main propaganda till the collapse of Soviet Union. The presumed greatness of the American lifestyle, too, was imposed on us. More and more cars came in, TV and many other items. I will tell you something amusing. The land east of the river Elbe was under the control of the Reds and in the West there were the forces of the Western Allies. You know what appeared in this side in the American zone during the very first days after the war? 64 filling stations of Coca Cola were set up!

This was one approach, another one was to frighten us pointing at the bogy of Soviet Union. Just like what Bush is doing today, showing the bogy of terrorism. But he is at least saying aloud what he is going to do and why he is doing it. Sure, that it’s due to haughtiness. But Kennedy and Clinton and others couldn’t do this. They cunningly hid the imperialist intentions of America.

And then there was the money, billions of U. S: Dollars by the Marshall Plan were pumped into West Germany’s Economy.

And another tactics of the Western allies was to support old time fascists on their way to the top level of industries and financial institutions. An example is the Krupp family. The vastness of their industrial empire then could be compared with that of the Tata group in India. The laborers of an iron and steel industrial plant in the Ruhr district said, “We don’t want a managing director from the former elite, we will manage ourselves.” But the British army installed a stalwart from the old elite. There was a worker in one of these factories with the name Mueller. He was known in the village as ‘communist Mueller.’ He was in a concentration camp for a long time. Mueller tried to organize protests in the factory. But he was put into the jail. He died there. This was the sort of freedom and democracy that existed in West Germany then.

You too were seduced by American propaganda?

It’s true that I too fell to American propaganda. In 1961 I went to the US. Originally I did not go there for higher studies. A group of youngsters planned a world tour that would last 3 years. They included me too. My job was to prepare and send reports of their journey to newspapers and magazines in several countries. But getting to know the project better, I felt this was not what I wanted and I ended my relationship with them.

Your ideas about America changed once you landed there, isn’t it?

I joined Temple University in Philadelphia. My subject was the ‘Great American Nation’ itself. American history, literature, American sociology. After one month there, I understood that my concepts of the U.S. were completely unreal. I was shocked at seeing the pathetic condition of so many poor people in that rich country. America is indeed a beautiful country. Also; I got introduced to many very good people. But a majority of Americans believe, that this world belongs to them. America is a good example of the risks of installing persons with imperialist wishes in power and of giving unlimited functional authority to them. As you know, ‘go west’ was the slogan of many Americans from the beginning itself. Thus they went west,. annihilating the Red Indians. Nothing is applicable to them, neither sea nor frontiers. Nothing prevents them from entering other’s courtyards and conquering them. “Aren’t we Americans?”, is the question they ask...

the Vietnam War started while you were out there, isn’t it?

The Vietnam War had started not long after I reached the U.S. Meanwhile I had got the Green Card, so I had the permission to work and earn money. I made a living by doing all sorts of jobs besides my studies, washing dishes in a hotel was one of them, but I never became a millionaire. Later, in Los Angeles, I got a job as a waiter. With that my finances improved. You know I would get tips. I was doing my fifth semester then. But I couldn’t complete my course. It was ordered that I should join the U.S. army and fight in Vietnam as I was a Green Card holder. To defend American democracy in Vietnam! I decided that I won’t do it. I escaped from there. California State sentenced me to three years in jail in my absence. For not participating in Vietnam War.

Was it in Germany that you re-emerged?

A: Yes. It’s an irony that the next job I took up too had American connection. Maryland University had a centre in Germany. My job was to teach German language to U.S. soldiers and personnel. In one seminar I compared the commencement of the Second World War and Vietnam War. What Hitler told German people was, “Poland has attacked us. We have no other way but to retaliate.” The American president too did the same thing. “A Vietnamese armed boat has attacked us. We have to safeguard our honour”. At that time an American youth of 17 or 18 screamed at me, “We are Americans, we have the bomb, and we will drop it wherever and whenever we like to.” This is the American haughtiness. Remember that this was in 1966. Nothing has changed in the attitude and perspective of too many Americans even today. Afghanistan and Iraq are only recent examples of this viewpoint. Anyway, they fired me from the job over the seminar issue.

How did you become attracted towards communism?

I again joined University. This time my subject was German and English literature to become a teacher. But I didn’t like the teaching method. I felt that it was very narrow. What’s the use of learning poetry and drama without any knowledge of history and sociology. It was during that time that the ‘1968’ movement began. Basically it was a protest against the generation of our parents. We became aware that parents and relatives of many (not mine) in our generation had connections with the Nazi party. As some 80% of the population supported Hitler more or less. Many were just too afraid to oppose. It couldn’t have been otherwise. But they didn’t acknowledge it. Might be due to guilt feelings. Even Günter Grass could reveal his connections only recently. Any way this led to a rift between generations. We turned towards Marxism amidst all this. At the beginning we had to print books related to communism in the underground.

Were such books banned?

Not officially. Wasn’t it freedom and democracy? No question of any bans! But the government made sure that such books were not available. We read the books of Marx/Engels and Frankfurt School of Leftist thinkers taking photostat copies. Later we had Leftist book shops, where even books of Lenin, Marx/Engels and other could be purchased. Many of these books came from the eastern part of Germany.s.

Life after that?

Meantime I got married. We had kids. Some of us began to live as a commune. We started kindergardens, we felt our children should be spared of the type of education we received. And many Leftists became teachers. Some got into trouble with the school authorities and lost their jobs. Our experiments lasted about 10 years.

How did you Leftists view the collapse of the Wall?

As far as we were concerned the survival of the DDR in East Germany and the Soviet Union was very important. I was never a member of the communist party. The first reason was that West Germany had 5 or 6 communist parties and groups. Each group was insistent that it’s line alone was correct. Secondly, when I realized the contradiction between ideology and its practice I understood that I couldn’t remain inside the cell of any particular ‘line’. But we sincerely wished the Soviet Union to survive, although we had a lot to criticise. It was due to the realization that a force like the Soviet Union was there on the opposite side that the capitalist forces controlled their assaults to a certain extent. It was the realization, that if exploitation went beyond a level, people have another ideology and power to rely on - that forced the capitalists to control themselves. Aren’t we now witnessing the furious destruction wrought in by Neo Liberalism after the collapse of Soviet Union?

Some of us were optimistic, when the Berlin Wall collapsed. Changes could occur in both sides, they hoped. The East had some systems and institutions, which were better than those of the West. If this could be an opportunity to form a real welfare state through discussions and unifications between one society that was under the socialist system and another one under the capitalist system. But this of course was an illusion.………
What happened was something else. The West literally overhauled the East. Imperialism in every sense. First the welfare system, that existed there, was destroyed. Most of what was under public ownership was privatized. East Germany was a small country. Narrow roads with trees, small cars, old towns. Now roads were widened by destroying the trees. Big speedy cars were introduced to the roads. Speed was the first thing that changed life there. To go to the West to make money was the foremost goal for many….. If you are slow, your competitor will get ahead of you and your profit will go down. In the East that had not been the goal. But then with “Freedom and Democracy”, the situation changed completely.

After the fall of the wall the Easterners got total freedom to enter the West. Earlier it was really difficult to get there. 90 percent of those who tried to jump over the wall were hit by bullets. But now there is no wall. Everyboy can come without any hesitation. Here’s Coca Cola, here’s democracy, here’s freedom. We conducted seminars with workers from former DDR faktories and told them. “Of course, Kentukky Fried Chicken is yours now. But you have to pay for them. Otherwise you won’t get them”. They were shocked at first. ‘So what? We are ready to work hard.’ But we told them, ‘It won’t be easy to get a job. Unemployment is rampant here.’ They were shocked again. ‘You are lying. Unemployment in the West?’ Then we showed them newspapers and magazines. These were not national secrets. Then we told them, ‘even if you get a job, there is no job security.’ Hire and fire’ policy is gowing strongly. In many jobs, you can be fired any time. And then: everyday expenses are very high, there will not be much left at the end of the month. They said, “You are not only liars, but communists too!”

Your relationship with trade union movement?

I was working with the ‘Trade Union Federation of Bavaria’ for nearly twenty years as paedagogikal director. Germany’s Trade Unions are not like those of India. There is only one trade union for one industry. Like metal workers union, coal workers union, transport workers and services union etc.

So they don’t have any affiliation with any political parties?

Not directly. Still there is some sort of relationship. For example, the members of Metal Workers’ Union are either Social Democrats and quite a number also are Communists. Trade Unions follow the policies of that particular party to which the majority of its members belong. So quite often ideological conflict occurs within these Trade Unions.

How did you become associated with the Green Movement?

I was attracted towards nature from childhood itself. My view was that whatever damages nature suffers; it is capable of overcoming them. But I understood that with time the survival capacity of nature was deteriorating. Today, even a day’s production is many folds when compared to the whole production that took place during the first one lakh years of man’s existence. Just as it is enormous growth and development on one side, it is decline and deterioration of natural resources and our natural living conditions on the other side. Mankind’s future is in sustainable agriculture and industries that nature can afford, not in ruthless industrialization.

Didn’t you experience conflicts with the ideology of Green Movement as a trade unionist?

Of course. But I felt that the awareness of the vulnerability of nature should be created in industrial laborers. I began to organize seminars with our trade unionists. Against excessive exploitation of nature, against pollution of water, soil and air by industrial production……….Initially I had to face protests from the workers and some Unions leaders. I invited members of Green Movement to participate in these seminars. When members of trade unions participated in anti atomic rallies, they were attacked from many sides. At that time the idea prevailing there was, that atomic energy was the most eco friendly energy, the ‘greenest energy.’ Just like the general thinking in India now. But we had experts who could explain to us why atomic power is very expensive and is an enormous danger to mankind. So many accidents have proved it, above all the accident in Tschernobyl in the former Soviet Union.

But I never became a full time Green Movement activist. My interest was to function like a bridge between Trade Unions and Green Movement. It’s good if 100 academics have awareness about nature and environment. But more important is to create that awareness in 100 factory workers.

How did Green Movement become a political party?

The Green Movement became a strong mass movement towards the end of the 70s. They could prevent mighty companies from starting atomic reactors and in the process of destroying forests through massive protests. The River Rhine was like your Periyar of today. Strongly polluted. But all that has changed. Now fish is again breeding, and the quality of the water has improved immensly. The activities of the Green Movement brought about such unbelievable changes in various fields. That’s when the thought of forming a political party arose. Many in the Green Movement were communists and leftists. The basic concepts of the Green Movement developed from a timely merger of nature preservation and the ideology of Karl Marx. So ‘power’ is not reckoned as something forbidden. That’s how the Green Party emerged.

Could the Green Party function keeping the basic aims of the green movement in the forefront?

They thought that they could go ahead standing firm on their principles. But it showed that it’s not possible. A political movement can do many things that a political party cannot do. The responsibilities of a political party are different from that of a political movement. Gradually the Green Party became an ordinary political party working along the lines of parlamentarianism.

They were in power too…..

Yes. They were in power in alliance with the Social Democrat Party. These were the degenerating days of the Green Party, as many see it. They made many compromises to preserve power. Green Movement was an anti war movement. They asked for people’s votes on the basis of this. Still, when they came to power, they voted in favour of a proposal by Chancellor Schroeder for military involvement in Yugoslavia. That change in stand disappointed many of the Green Movement activists.

What is the political scene like after unification? Any new political parties?

After the wall had fallen and the former DDR was integrated into West Germany, a new political party, the PDS (Party of Democratic Socialism), was founded, mainly by citizens of the formerly communist country. In some of the eastern Federal States it soon came up quite stronly. It had however only few members in the West. As the Social Democratic Party (SPD) under Schroeder moved towards this neo liberal course, many members could no longer identify with this very old party, which in their eyes had been struggling for the poorer and working class population. Many people, a great deal of them Trade Union members with left leanings, were very frustrated and left the SPD. They organized themselves in the new LINKS Partei (Left Party). After long discussions between PDS and Links Partei they merged and in the last federal elections they got near to ten percent and thus got seats in the federal Parliament in Berlin. Their programme has a lot of former SPD, goals and aims like the protection of the weaker strata of society, opposing strongly the process of corporate globalization and the uncontrolled expansion of capital power.

Are you a member?

Not yet, but after my return I have decided I’ll join.

How strong is Neo-Liberalism in Germany?

It started with the early eighties under Kohl, former chancellor of West Germany. But it was Schroeder, a Social Democrat, who gave it a big push. Just like Tony Blair in Britain. The new socialists! Schroeder misjudged that if huge investment came, employment opportunities would increase. He bragged that he would eradicate unemployment. How come that they don’t recognize that investment is for increasing profit and not for increasing the number of jobs! Politicians will think that employment opportunities could be increased by installing 10 machines in the place of one. But what capitalism tries to do is to reduce these 10 machines into one. In India too we often hear that so many lakhs would be provided for employment. Politicians are never able to create employment. It’s the economy of a country that creates and destroys employment opportunities and in that politics does not have much to say.

How did Neo-Liberalism affect the life of ordinary people? Is there poverty? In a visible way?

Yes, there is poverty and it’s increasing continuously, too. And there is visible poverty if you take the pain to look. Every big town in Germany has ‘Loan Counselors.’ Those who advise the people who are unable to repay loans. In Munich city alone there are more than one lakh people in the waiting list for an appointment with these counselors. So many have fallen into the ‘debt trap.’ Many of them had a good income earlier. Then they begin to borrow to buy a house, to buy a big car………One day they suddenly lose their job. Debt falls into arrears. They are the scapegoats of consumerism.

In my opinion the worst form of poverty however is social poverty. Mutual relationships are decreasing. We seem to be losing the ability to communicate with each other. There was a drastic change in European climate few months ago. Temperature shot up like never before. Many old people died in Germany, Italy and in some parts of France. Many were found dead lying in their flats for almost a week in Italy. Nobody knew. In Germany, we occasionally read in the newspapers, that a dead body was found in a flat after a search was conducted after fowl odour spread. This seclusion is a direct impact of the modern life style.

In India and Kerala too, debt-trap, consumerism and social seclusion are increasing.

Yes, that is what I have been observing, too. It points to the fact that the impact of Neo-Liberalism is increasing. Haven’t you noticed America and European countries flattering India? The are spreading the news, that India is going to be super power in this century and all? It’s a planned strategy. It’s a hidden attempt to enlarge their market, to bring monopolistic investment to more areas, and to upset the priority to be given to basics like food security and good drinking water. When the rich man’s dinner table overflows, something will fall down. The neo liberal theory is that this is enough to curb the hunger of the poor.

I feel that localised movements are most effective in defending globalization. Some of our organizations are discussing whether such movements are possible in Germany.

But there is an accusation that Kudumbasree is depoliticizing the primary class.

It might be happening in the case of self financing groups. They are only a variation of the micro credit project that World Bank is implementing in third world countries. The big capital reaches the poor women trickling through many levels. The foreign capital does not face any risk. This is exploitation. But Kudumbasree is not like that. They function with clear programmes and projects. They have political perspective, too. And no party politics. So there is a positive difference.

Doesn’t women empowerment also mean more workload to women? And there are cases of discrimination too. In municipalities women Kudumbasree members engaged in waste removal are given only half the wages of men engaged in the same work……

All experiments will have their own drawbacks. It’s the duty of political leadership to eliminate them.

You are translating the book ‘Local Democracy and Development’ written by Thomas Issac and Richard Frankie to German. What’s your opinion about the People’s Planning?

It’s a revolutionary movement. Didn’t I speak about EMS who intertwined Marxism with Kerala’a reality? It’s an example of that. An excellent way to materialize the slogan ‘power to the people’ if implemented properly.

You said you have visited many villages in Kerala. Was it the natural beauty of the countryside that attracted you?

Not only that. I went to Kalamandalam during my first visit to Kerala in 1998. When there are Kathakali performances in villages I would definitely reach there. I have often felt that Kathakali spreads a particular energy. That energy flows from the body and eyes of the actor to the viewer who is so absorbed in it. Otherwise how can I remain so energetic at 6:00 in the morning after watching Kathakali throughout the night?

Did you go to Plachimada? How do you view the anti Coco Cola movement and the ban on Coca Cola?

I went to Plachimada during last year’s visit. I view the Plachimada agitation as a major one in the fight against corporate exploitation. I was in Germany when ban on Coca Cola was implemented here. There were big headlines in several German newspapers. “Communist Kerala bans Coca Cola.” Many were astonished at this. Though not the mightiest corporate in the world, the Cola giant is known globally as a symbol of the mighty corporate. Is any one bold enough to ban such a company? There was another reaction too. In many areas Coca Cola is being drunk more than water. They do not understand it’s ban at all! But in my opinion banning Coke is not enough. And it didn’t survive in court too. The basic issues have to be tackled.

I know I don’t have to ask this question, still, will you be coming to Kerala again?

Of course I will come again. I am trying to read Kerala just like a book. And I don’t think that I will get bored. I have many friends in Kerala. Some eminent personalities from social and political spheres as well as those who work on primary levels. My next journey is to Kanavu. Baby is my friend.

And a last question. I understand that you live in Munich in the same house, which Vladimir Lenin used to occupy when he was in exile before the revolution?

Lenin lived in this apartment under the name of Mr. Mayer

Yes, that's true. Mr. Uljanov alias Lenin lived in the house I have been living in, since 1978. Lenin, coming to Munich as a refugee from Russia, stayed there for several months. He was given shelter by German Social Democrats from Munich. Lenin lived in an aparment on the ground floor under the name of Mr. Mayer. Every morning he would leave the house to walk to the Bavarian State Library about two kilometers away, where he would do his studies and writing. I think that I am the only one in this building, who has some of his books on his shelf and who has even read most of them.

Post your comments.

Name:

Email: (optional):

Please enter your comments:

>

Comments (0)

I was attracted to EMS because he tried to harmonise Marxist ideology with Kerala’s existing reality. What bewildered me most about communism was the wide chasm between the ideology and its application. I believe that communism still exists in Kerala mainly due to EMS. While I say this, I am not forgetting other leaders. Communism couldn’t take roots even in Germany, the birthplace of Karl Marx. But here it could.

But I can agree if it’s said that many good aspects of Kerala model are being destroyed by Neoliberalism.Its not a small matter that a state with a percapita income of below 400 dollars is equal in human development indicators to America which has a percapita income of 22000 dollars.